Engraving die



Jan. 10, 1939. F. c. HlRscHMAN ET AL 2,143,243

ENGRAVING DIE Filed April 29, 1957 Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNlTED ST'EES ATENT OFIE ENGRAVING DIE Application April 29,

12 Claims.

This invention relates to dies, and more particularly to engraving dies of a type in which the die block may be used in conjunction with a number of removable die members for producing a multiple engraving or embossing die.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a die for use in applying engraving to stationery and similar material in which it is desired to engrave thereon the owners initials in suitable monogram form with an artistic design, or to supply a designating emblem such as a crest, coat-of-arms, seal or fraternal insignia of any desired type with the individual initials of the user engraved on the stationery therewith.

This has heretofore been accomplished by producing on a die block the particular monogram or insignia desired and then engraving the stationery with this die. However, this becomes relatively expensive since each such stamp or die has to be specially cut to order as it is obviously a commercial impossibility for retailers to carry in stock stamps or dies having all possible combinations of letters or initials in conjunction with seals, crests or other insignia. The cutting of a die or stamp of this type is relatively expensive so that the use of engraved stationery of this type has heretofore been considerably curtailed due to the cost of such dies, since the dealer must include this cost in the cost of stationery as each die is made for only the particular job at hand.

One of the primary objects of the present inventon is to provide a die comprising a die block having what might be called the primary insigne initial or the like thereon, and having means for receiving individual die members or inserts having thereon either a complete letter or other desired character such as, for example, 40 in a fraternal insigne, a designation of the chapter of the fraternity or the like wherebythe completed die may be readily assembled and made ready for use, thus eliminating the necessity for cutting each die for each particular requirement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an engraving die capable of use for engraving stationery and the like, which is provided with means whereby proper leveling of the inserted die members is positively assured, whereby a clear cut uniform engraving is produced on the stationery having no smudged portion or portions which deposit a greater amount of ink than is deposited by other corresponding portions of 56 the die member.

1937, Serial No. 139,700

Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a primary die or plurality of dies, each carrying a single letter made up in any desired fanciful design and having openings therein through which individual die members carrying out individual characters may be inserted. For example, if the stationery is to be engraved with a three-letter monogram, a series of 25 primary dies will be prepared, each carrying in either intaglio or relief upon its surface one letter of the alphabet with means in this member for inserting two die members carrying letters of the alphabet thereon. Thus, for a complete combination in one design, there is provided only 26 primary die memberswith 52 insertable members giving a full range of possible initial combinations for this particular design. Similar sets of primary dies and secondary die members can be made up in other designs witho-ut requiring the outlay of any considerable eX- pense, and a number of designs can be made up in which the primary dies may differ, where the secondary dies can be used with two or more types of primary dies.

This reduces greatly the cost oi manufacturing engraved stationery, letter heads, cards or the like, while at the same time insuring a perfect reproduction of the engraving on the stationery due to the positioning means for the insertable die members.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention wi11 appear more fully from the following detailed description which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, will disclose to those skilled in the art the particular construction and operation of a preferred form of the present invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a die embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of another form of die;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a still further modied form of die;

Figure 5 is a plan View of a slightly different type of die;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially on line 6--6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a plan view of an insertable die member which may be employed in place of the members shown in Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a still further modied type of die member;

Figure 9 is another modification thereof; and

Figure 10 illustrates a die member which includes identifying insignia in addition to the individual monogram.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the die member 5 of Fig. 1 is formed in any suitable manner and is provided with a design on its surface including a character letter, numeral or the like indicated at 6 and a fanciful portion l.

The character or letter 6 may be formed on the die member either in intaglio or in relief, as is also the case with the fanciful portion of the design indicated at 1. The die member 5 may be provided with a transverse opening 8 therethrough, whereby it is suitably held in position during the engravement of the surface thereof. Disposed substantially in the central portion of the block 5 there is provided a somewhat elongated opening extending vertically through the die member and indicated generally at S. This opening is provided with tapered walls lil eX- tending from the base thereof to a point adjacent the upper portion of the opening formation point to the top of the opening. The walls are disposed normal to the base of the die.

The opening 9 is adapted to receive a pair of die members indicated at l2 and i3 having perfectly straight lateral surfaces, and inserted into the opening through the base thereof. The upper surfaces of the members l2 and i3 are formed in suitable manner to produce a character element such as a letter, numeral or the like in the particular example shown, the member l2 having the character element l in the .form of a lower case member m, while the die member l 3 has formed therein as indicated at l5, the letter h. The die members, preferably, also are provided with a slightly chamfered edge portion l5 cooperating with the edge of the opening 9 to form definite lines marking the outline of the upper surface of the two die members. Inasmuch as these members are separate from the block 5, ink may not be wiped from the possible crevices about the `olefining edges of the members, and consequently we find it of advantage to make a denite line at this point rather than depend upon wiping of the ink out of any possible crevices.

It will be noted that due to the downwardly flaring portion of the opening 9 the lower ends of the members l 2 and l 3 are free to move slightly relative to the defining walls of the die block 5. This is of material advantage in insuring that after the members have been inserted they will move to their proper position with relation to the upper surface of the member 5 so that no cooking is produced tending to produce variations in pressure on the impression on the die when it is put in an engraving press for applying the insignia thereon to stationery or the like. This produces a clear cut, uniform engraved outline of each portion of the entire assembly preventing any ink smudges or any unbalanced effects due to possible cocking, since the members l2 and i3 will iioat into their proper position when the die is operated. The taper is at a very slight angle on the lower surfaces of the walls l0 of the opening since only a minute degree of movement is required to line up the inserts with the surface of the die member.

Considering now in detail Fig. 3, we have sho-wn a die member i8 having engraved thereon the character element I9 with a fanciful design enclosing the same. On opposite sides of the central or primary design carried by the member i8 are openings through the die block which are adapted to receive the insertable members 2D and 22 corresponding to the members l2 and I3 of Fig. 1. The members 20 and 22 each carry on their upper surface suitable insignia or characters such as indicated at 23 and 24, respectively, which cooperate with the preformed member I9 to produce the final complete engraving. The members 20 and 22 are formed as die members of uniform cross sectional area, and the openings in the member i8 through which these members 2) and 22 are inserted have tapered side walls of the type described in detail in connection with Fig. 2 for producing the desired alignment of the upper surfaces of the members 253 and 22 with the top surface of the block I8.

In Fig. 4 we have shown another form of die member indicated generally at 25, having the primary character element 26 engraved thereon with a fanciful design surrounding the same, and which is provided on opposite sides with suitable openings for receiving the die insert members 2l and 28, each of the members 2l and 28 being provided with a character element 29 formed in the upper surface thereof and cooperating with the preformed character element 26 to produce the completed design. If desired, the block 25 may be provided with only a single elongated opening, and three die inserts may be used interchangeably to produce the desired monogram. In such cases the die face will have only the fanciful design engraved thereon.

It will be obvious that in place of the members 2l and 28 the members 20 and 22 of Fig. 3 could be inserted in the corresponding openings in the primary die block 25, whereby an engraver would need to make up only two complete sets of the members 20 and 22 and could then use these sets interchangeably with either the die block I8 or the die block 25. It is, of course, to be understood that the openings in the block 28 have their lower wall portions tapered outwardly for the purpose of centering and aligning the upper character bearing surfaces properly with respect to the main or primary surface on the block 25.

In Fig. 5 a modified form of construction is provided in which the die block 30 is provided with the character 32 engraved therein in any suitable manner, and is also provided with a triangularly shaped opening 33 adapted to receive a pair of insertable die members 34 and 35, each of these members being in the form of a triangle which occupies one half of the main triangular opening 33. The members 34 and 35 are each provided with character elements or other insignia 3B upon the surface thereof, and the defining edges thereof are provided with recesses 3l corresponding in purpose and function with the recesses I6, as described in connection with Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that with the die block 30, a threeletter monogram -can be produced with only 25 die blocks being necessary having the primary alphabetic characters engraved thereon, and 52 With such a two-letter combination, only 26 insert members 38 would be required in combination with the 26 primary dies to provide all possible two-letter combinations. It is to be understood that the opening 33 is provided with a wall portion 4U which tapers outwardly toward the lower end of the openings, and which has a relatively straight wall adjacent the upper end thereof. This is to produce the same leveling and aligning function as described in connection with Fig. 2.

In Fig. 8 a still further modified form of monogram is provided comprising the die block 42 having the character element i3 engraved thereon and provided with a pair of triangularly shaped openings M and 'd5 adapted t/o receive the insertable die members 4E and fl'i, respectively, each carrying the desired character element which is to be combined with the main character element 43 for producing the desired monogram. Obviously, the triangularly shaped openings 44 and l5 could be rotated into other positions with respect to the main character element, or could as sume positions whereby character elements such as indicated at 34 and 35 in Fig. 5 could. also be employed in producing a monogram provided in Fig. 8. The side walls of the openings lili and 45 A are also tapered for producing alignment of the character surfaces of the members 46 and 47 with the character surface of the member 42,

The die shown in Fig. 9 and indicated generally at 53 comprises a central character element 52 having an outline 53 engraved thereabout, and is provided with diagonally offset openings adapted to receive the individual die members 54 and 55, respectively. Each of these die members carries an individual letter or character element thereon, and if desired, the die members Sit-and 55 may be employed in place of members 2i) and 22 of Fig. 5 or 3l and 28 of Fig. 4, or the ind.'- vidual elements as shown and described in Figs. 3 and 4 could be embodied in the die block as shown in Fig. 9 to thereby reduce the number of insertable die members required for a number of different types of monogram design. It is to be understood that the openings for the members 54 and 55 are tapered in the manner heretofore described to produce the desired leveling function and to prevent cooking or angular offset of the character surfaces of the members inserted thereinto.

Referring now in detail to Fig. 10, the main die block 63 is provided with a suitable character element S2 engraved thereon and having oppositely disposed openings for receiving the die members 63 and Sli for producing a three-letter monogram. As in connection with Fig. 4, three die inserts may be used in this die block 6B, in place of the engraved integral element 62.

The surface of the die block 66 is provided, in addition, to the character element G2, with an insignia indicated at 65 in Fig. 10 showing an emblem representative of some particular activity in which the person whose monogram appears on the block is interested. 'Ihis insignia 65 may take the form of a fraternal seal, a club seal or insignia, the seal of a university of the like, or a crest or coat-of-arms peculiar to the particular a novel means for producing a multiple engraving die wherein the master or primary die can be made up in any suitable form, and the insertable members can be readily installed in and removed from the master die to produce any desired combination of letters, character elements, insignia or combinations thereof that may be desired Without the expense attended upon former methods of producing engraved insignia of this type.

We are aware that various changes and modifications may be made in certain details of the present invention, and it is to be fully understood that the particular designs and representations herein shown and described are by way of illustration only and by no means are to be considered as limitations to the invention to the speciiic forms shown.

The invention is to be defined only by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a master die having a primary character element engraved on the face thereof and having an opening extending entirely therethrough, a secondary die member insertable into said opening and having a complementary character element engraved in the face thereof whereby the die and die member will produce a complementary engraving, the defining walls of said opening engaging said secondary die member for only a slight portion of the total vertical extent thereof and forming the sole support therefor whereby said secondary die member is free to move within said opening to produce proper planar alinement of the die faces.

2. In combination, a master die having primary indicia engraved upon the surface thereof, said die having an opening extending entirely therethrough from said surface, and a plurality of die members insertable into said opening and of a height corresponding to the height of said master die, said die members being freely movable in said opening and having lateral support therein adjacent only one end thereof, each of said die members having indicia on the surfaces thereof complementing the indicia carried by said master die.

3. An engraving die comprising a master die block having indicia engraved on the surface thereof, said block having a vertical opening extending therethrough, the defining walls of said opening diverging outwardly from a point spaced below said surface, and a die member having a die face carrying indicia complementing the ndicia carried by said master die block and having perpendicular lateral walls insertable into said opening, said diverging walls accommodating centering movement of said die member to dispose said die face in planar alignment with said master die surface.

4. The die of claim 3 characterized by said opening being of polygonal shape and said die member being of uniform polygonal cross-section corresponding to the area of said opening at the master die surface.

5. The die of claim 3 characterized by said die member having a peripheral recess about the edges of the die face to produce a definite line engravement about the periphery of said opening.

6. The combination, with a master die block having indicia engraved upon the surface thereof and having a polygonal shaped opening therethrough of uniform cross-sectional area for a portion of its length and of uniformly increasing area for the remainder of its length, of insert means having a die surface provided with engraved indicia complementing the indicia of said master die block and of the same uniform crosssectional area throughout its length as the smallest cross-sectional area of said opening.

7. A master die block having a die surface engraved with a primary indicia such as a letter of the alphabet, decorative design, crest, seal or a combination thereof, said block having a polygonally shaped opening extending therethrough of uniform cross-sectional area for a portion of its length adjacent said surface and of a uniformly increasing cross-sectional area for the remainder of its length to the bottom of said block, said block being adapted to receive die members of uniform cross-sectional area corresponding to said first portion of the length of said opening insertable into said opening from the bottom thereof and having die faces having indicia engraved. thereoncomplementing the primary indicia on said master die block.

8. In combination, a master engraving die having indicia engraved on the surface thereof and having a polygonally shaped opening extending therethrough, a die member insertable into said opening and having a die face engraved with complementing indicia, and means dening the lower portion of said opening accommodating floating movement of the lower portion of said die member with respect to said opening for centering of said die member with the die face thereof in planar alinement with said master die surface.

9. In combination, a master engraving die having a die surface engraved with indicia comprising a letter of the alphabet in combination with other decorative or identifying insignia, a die member having a die face engraved with complementing indicia, and means extending through said master die for receiving said die member engageable with the same adjacent one end of said member only, said means providing limited rocking movement of said die member therein and providing for movement of said die face into coplanar alinement with said master die surface. 10. In combination, a master die having an opening extending vertically therethrough and of a smaller cross-sectional area at one end than at the other, a secondary die insertable into said opening and of a cross section the same as the said small end of said opening, whereby said secondary die is held laterally at one end thereof and is free for relative movement with respect to the defining Walls of the opposite end of said opening.

l1. In combination, a master engraving die having a die surface engraved with indicia comprising a letter of the alphabet in combination with other decorative or identifying insignia, a plurality of individual die members having die faces at one end thereof engraved with complementary indicia, and means extending through said master die for receiving said die members and engageable with the same adjacent the die face end of said members only, said means providing limited rocking movement of the opposite ends of said die members whereby said members have self-centering movement with respect to said master die surface.

l2. In combination, a master die having an engraved die face and an opening extending vertically therethrough, said opening having a varying cross sectional area and a plurality of die members of uniform cross section throughout their length and conjointly insertable in said opening and having engraved die surfaces, the defining Walls of said opening laterally engaging said die members only adjacent the engraved die surfaces thereof and provided for rocking movement of said die members within said opening to produce coplanar alinement of said die surfaces and said engraved master die surface.

FREDERICK C. HIRSCHMAN. NELS JOHNSON. JAMES E. STRINGFELLOW. 

